《古代寓言·砍倒了梧桐树》（中英对照）

人有枯梧树者，其邻人言：

“枯梧之树不祥。”

其邻人遽而伐之。邻人父因请以薪。

其人乃不悦曰：“邻人之父，徒欲为薪，而教吾伐之也，与我邻若此其险，岂可哉！”

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——《列子》

Felling the Plane Tree

A man had a withered plane tree.

“It’s unlucky to keep a withered tree,” said his neighbour.

But when the first man had felled the tree, his neighbour asked him for some of the wood as fuel.

“The old man simply wanted some fuel,” thought the owner of the tree indignantly. “That’s why he told me to fell my tree. We are neighbours, and yet he tricks me in this way—this is really going too far.”

Lie Zi